Honduras earthquake relief mission

The plan for this weekend up until a couple hours ago was to fly out to Denver to scope out housing. That plan changed this morning when I got an e-mail from Rescue Task Force describing the 7.1 earthquake that struck Honduras at 2:20 AM this morning (see quoted text below). I called up Andrea and Gary to see how I could help, and to make a long story short, I'll be going down to Honduras to help with the disaster relief efforts. I am very thankful to Southwest Airlines for their extremely flexible ticket cancellation policies, as well as to my boss for being fine with me taking such a last-minute vacation.

Back in January, I volunteered with Rescue Task Force for a different type of mission, providing basic medical and dental aide to the indigenous people of the Miskito Coast who live lack such services. We ran a free clinic out in the jungle, and people trekked for days in order to get anti-worm medicine or get a tooth pulled. That experience was eye-opening and transformative in that I got a glimpse of the profound gratification from helping people - people who truly need help - that lies before me as a future doctor.

This relief mission before me now is much more of an unknown. Talking with Andrea, an executive officer of Rescue Task Force and the team leader, even she doesn't really know what to expect once we're there. It's very exciting. I'm looking forward to helping the victims of this earthquake in any ways that I can.

Rescue Task Force (RTF) and World Emergency Relief (WER) are responding to the 7.1 earthquake that struck Honduras at 2:20 AM this morning.

Team Leader Andrea Stone will depart from Los Angeles tonight and fly to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras where she will meet with RTF team member Jim McNeely, coming from Atlanta. Upon arrival they will meet with our Honduras coordinator, Dr. Claudio Casas who is assembling a local team of Honduran doctors and volunteers – veterans of many RTF jungle missions.

The orphanage that WER-CA sponsors has sustained heavy damage to the dormitory. Thirty-six of our orphans have been moved into the office and the dining area.

Jose our local warehouseman’s home was destroyed. He, his wife and baby are the first of probably many to move into our WER warehouse.

Mission Details to follow as the day progresses. We are in contact with colleagues at the Fire Department in Honduras and the combined team will be coordinating our disaster relief activities with them for help to isolated areas that the Fire department will not be able to immediately assist.

Note to Supporters:
We need help!!! This is a 9-1-1 call for help from our friends in Honduras of so many years. We are responding on faith. Please, can you help send this team…

Donations:
Via website: www.rescuetaskforce.org

Mail:
Rescue Task Force
864 N. Second St. #340
El Cajon, CA 92021